Arber Xhekaj pummels Zack MacEwen just minutes into the game!

Arber Xhekaj has made quite an impression in the preseason so far and that trend continued on Saturday night when he and the Montreal Canadiens faced off against the Ottawa Senators.

Less than two minutes had expired on the game clock when Xhekaj once again found himself going toe to toe with a dangerous opponent in Ottawa's Zack MacEwen, but as he has done so many times before Xhekaj was prepared to answer the challenge.

The fisticuffs didn't start out of nowhere and instead were the result of MacEwen taking exception to a hit that Xhekaj had delivered at center ice. Xhekaj dropped Senators forward Tim Stutzle with a big hit in the open ice, one that resulted in several players falling to the ice, and MacEwen had no intention of letting Xhekaj get away with it.

Instead MacEwen came flying across the ice to challenge Xhekaj who, to absolutely no one's surprise, quickly accepted the challenge. Unfortunately for MacEwen it seems he got the worst of this one, although he did deliver some damage to his opponent, leaving Xhekaj with a crimson streak running down his face.

Here is a replay showing the hit, which was barely caught on camera at the start of the clip, as well as the subsequent fight.

Here's a better look at the fight itself: